The Pretty Rich
by thegirlfrommod4A
Summary: I OWN NOTHING. band AU. No idea where this story came from, but I have figured out where I'm going with it. Smoaking Billionaires, Nysara, Roy/Thea, etc. errmm...yeah. Reviews are beloved :)
1. Chapter 1

I OWN NOTHING! This is my first story to be super AU, so I'm a little worried about it, but hopefully it is bearable. Also my first mulitchapter fic in a while, so I'm stressing a little about that too. I'm not usually a review hound, but because of those things, feedback would be very much appreciated. On with the show!

"I'm only trying to make it right/walking in between the worlds tonight/And I know you think I'm Superman/But I'm anything but a hero/I'm anything but a hero". Felicity brought her hands together around the mic and bowed her head as the last notes of the song mingled in the air. She knew that behind her, the rest of the band was assuming the same pose. There was a second of black at Madison Square Garden, and then the lights went up and the crown roared even louder, Tommy and Oliver coming forwards to take her hands, Thea and Sara on either side of them. They bowed and waved and split up to touch hands, and then they were slipping back stage to change back into normal clothing for the short ride to the New York hotel to meet those who traveled with the Pretty Rich. Squished into the limo, Felicity smiled as the band chattered around her. Who would have thought MIT would lead her here?


	2. Chapter 2

Still don't own anything. I probably could have put this as part of last chapter, but I didn't want to put a flashback mid-chapter since that always feels kinda weird for me. Thank you so much for all of the feedback so far, I really appreciate it :). On with the show!

****FLASHBACK****

Felicity hummed to herself as she made the latte for a customer at Boston Beans, dropped it on the counter in front of them with a "Have a nice day!" then turned back to the line. Thea had run "to the bathroom", leaving Felicity to manage the line and the making for the moment. She huffed. Felicity didn't like Carter Bowen at the best of times, and she hated him when he texted Thea in the middle of her shift. She cheered up immediately, however, when she saw who was at the counter. Two insanely attractive men, one broad and muscular with short, dark blond hair and stubble, the other thinner with dark hair and a mischievous smile with twinkling blue eyes to match.

"Hi." said the broader one. "Can we get two shots in the dark?"

"Absolutely," Felicity replied. "What are the names on the cup?" she asked out of habit. She would, of course, be making the drinks and handing them off, but there was comfort in routine. Before they could answer, however, there was a squeal.

"Oliver! Tommy! Hiiiii!" Thea greeted, bounding out from behind the counter.

So this was Thea's twin brother and his best friend/boyfriend. Huh. Before she could process that, however, her attention was grabbed back. Apparently, the reunion had been concluded and it was introduction time.

"Felicity, this is Oliver, and this is Tommy" Thea stated, pointing first at the one who did, now that Felicity thought about it, look a little like her, and then at the one with the impish smile. "Guys, this is Felicity."

"Hello!" she replied. "It's lovely to finally meet you, Thea mentions you both a lot."

"Oh does she now?" Tommy questioned, reaching out to tickle Thea, who giggled and squirmed away. "Then perhaps you'd like to join us for dinner tonight."

Felicity was surprised, but hey, why not? "Sounds great!" She replied. "But right now, Thea and I should get back to work." Thea pouted, but went off to make the two coffees with espresso.

"Sure that makes sense." Oliver replied loudly enough that his sister could still hear. "I'm assuming Thea knows where your apartment is, so we'll pick you up around seven?"

"See you then!" Felicity replied, just as Thea came back with the coffee.

****END FLASHBACK****

The limo pulled up to the building where they were staying, and the five of them tumbled out of the car and into the mess of paparazzi. John Diggle, their head of security, had been riding shotgun and he shoved himself in front of the band, creating a passage for them through the screaming reporters. His wife and second-in-command Lyla stood at the hotel doors with her arms crossed. Both Lyla and John were ex-military, and nobody got through either of them, something Felicity was extremely grateful for as she followed Sara, Tommy, and Oliver into the building, pulling Thea behind her. Diggle stayed on guard duty just in case those who hadn't arrived at the hotel yet needed help, while Lyla escorted them in.

"How did it go guys?" she asked as they waited for the elevator.

Thea, always the most loquacious, spoke up. "Oh my god it was amazing! I finally see why everyone makes such a big deal out of playing the Garden. I just felt so, like, ON!" she exclaimed.

"I'm with this one," Sara drawled, pointing at the keyboardist. Sara leaned lazily against the elevator wall, her eyes a bit unfocussed. "It was incredible. Just thinking of everybody wlse who has played that stage..." The bassist trailed off, but they all got the point. Lyla, especially, smiled.

"You kids don't know the half of it," she began, "When I was 21, I saw my first ever concert there. Still one of the craziest things I've ever done, and this is coming from a woman who has diffused IUD's" Lyla continued.

Her musings were interrupted by the opening of the elevator doors on to the penthouse suite. Sara was the first to jump out, straight into the arms of her girlfriend Nyssa. The rest of the band and Lyla followed, Thea looking a bit disappointed as she stepped into the living area.

"He really didn't make it huh?" she said to Lyla a bit sadly.

"I'm sorry sweetie, you know I would have let him come up if he had," the older woman replied.

Felicity sighed a little bit. Carter Bowen was in New York as well. He and Thea were still together, and Felicity knew Thea had been expecting him take a break from work and stop by the hotel after the show. Before she could say anything though, the elevator door opened at the same time as one of the bedrooms. Diggle stepped out with Roy, their sound tech, while Laurel, their PR person, and her boyfriend Ted-the-manager stepped out of the bedroom. Laurel was blushing and stammering about losing track of time, and everyone was laughing, and Felicity suddenly had Tommy on one arm and Oliver on the other. The disturbance had seemed to cheer Thea up as well, so Felicity pushed her worries to the side and enjoyed the moment of celebration.


	3. Chapter 3

Still don't own it. First thing, I wanted to say thank you so much for all of your support so far. aaaand, chapter three is here.

****FLASHBACK****

"Guys this is nuts!" Felicity exclaimed, fiddling with the microphone in her hands.

Tommy and Oliver had been in Boston for about a week, and in that time they had discovered that not only did Felicity sing, her roommate Sara played bass. Since Thea, Tommy, and Oliver had played a bit together since they were young, Oliver had declared that the five of them had to get together. Thea and Oliver had bullied their keyboard and drum kit, respectively, onto the elevator, and Tommy had gamely mounted the stairs with his guitar slung over his back. So now here they were, all set up in Sara and Felicity's living room, with Sara's girlfriend Nyssa and sister Laurel watching. Carter, to Thea's disappointment and Felicity's joy, hadn't been able to make it. There was just one problem.

"What am I even supposed to sing?" Felicity questioned.

Tommy sighed impatiently. "Just figure something out!"

"FINE!" Felicity snapped back, growing irritated.

She closed her eyes and thought of her diary, sitting on a shelf on the other side of her bedroom door. Not even Sara knew it, but when writing code got to be too monotonous for Felicity, she switched over to songs. Now, she picked one of them out and let her voice glaze over the notes.

"Sometimes I get jealous/watching you go by/you make it look so easy/like you don't have to try/Even when I hear the doors slam/I know that you'll be together again/I'm glad that you keep your love alive/I'd truly hate to see it die."

Felicity felt the band joining in behind her, Oliver sizzling along on the cymbals, Tommy and Sara and Thea finding notes to join her own. She had written the song about Sara and Nyssa after they made up after a bad fight. Watching them get back together after a week of Sara crying on her shoulder had made Felicity tear up a bit, and she had started the lyrics that very night. As the song ended, Felicity was amazed at how good they sounded together, but a bit anxious to see how they all, Sara and Nyssa especially, reacted to the lyrics. However, she shouldn't have worried. In fact, it ended up being Laurel who was the first to speak.

"Wow." she commented. "Just, wow. You guys," she pointed to Tommy and Oliver "are in town for another week right?" When they both nodded, she went on. "If you guys can figure out a name, you should totally play for actual people. My friend Ted manages a couple of bands, he probably knows a venue with a spot to fill."

Sara replied before Felicity could mention that no, she would not humiliate herself in front of the masses. "You're friend huh?" The bass player commented, leaning into Nyssa. "Is this the same friend that makes you blush every time you look at your phone?"

Laurel flushed right then and there as the rest of the group giggled, then started chattering

Just when Felicity thought she was safe, Oliver ruined it, his voice booming over the others. "A gig would be great. Who wouldn't want to stare at a bunch of pretty faces like ours for a while?"

"But wait, don't these places have pay-to-play fees?" Thea chimed in, sobering up after laughing at Laurel's discomfort. "You need tot bear in mind, bro, that you may have dropped out of school but I am in the process of paying for a Harvard business degree."

"Well, we're in luck then" her brother replied. "Thanks to how well our club has been doing," and here, Felicity noted, he put his arm around Tommy, "We're practically rich!"

"That's pretty rich coming from a guy who," Thea started, but was interrupted by Tommy screaming, "That's it! That's it!".

"What's it? Thea demanded, turning to him with an eye roll.

"That's our name!" Tommy replied. "The Pretty Rich!"

****END FLASHBACK****

The next day saw Laurel and Ted, Roy, and the entire band piled back on the tour bus, headed for Philadelphia for the third stop of the cross-country tour, with Diggle and Lyla following behind them, not wanting to deal with "the crazy kids" for the duration of the tour. Felicity, on the other hand, was excited for all of it besides Vegas, which she had left for a reason and didn't particularly want to go back to. However, she pushed the thought out of her mind as Thea plopped down next to her.

"Aren't they soooo pretty!" her band mate squealed, showing off the bouquet of flowers Carter had given her when he caught up to them as they go on the bus that morning. "He's so sweet!"

Felicity murmured her agreement, desisting from mentioning that if Carter was all that great, he would have tried to find more than 10 minutes to spend with his girlfriend as she went off on a countrywide tour. Anyways, Thea was chattering on about how Carter had booked flights to see them in Dallas and LA and Chicago, and that they were planning to Skype every night, and Felicity couldn't help but smile at her enthusiasm. Out of the corner of her eye, however, she noticed Roy plop down next to Sara, presumably having finished what he needed to do with the on board instruments, both looking a bit dejected. Sara, of course, was feeling down, Nyssa had to stay in Boston for the length of the tour to run her Dojo, and though she had planned to come with them to Philly, one of her instructors had fallen ill so the women had to be separated a day early. On the other hand, Roy didn't have much to leave behind, at least from the things he had let slip to Felicity, so she didn't know what had him so down in the dumps. Before she could think about it further, Oliver scooped her up from next to Thea, interrupting his sister mid-sentence, and placed her down between Tommy and himself.

"Hello, girlfriend," Tommy said, grinning at her.

"Hello, boyfriends," she replied to them both.

The bus rolled on.


	4. Chapter 4

So many things would be different if I owned this show. I do, however, finally know exactly where I want to go with this story, so I'm mega excited about that. I would like to state that it killed me to get rid of Nyssa, especially when I can't wait to ditch...someone else. She'll be back though, and I'm super excited for who or, should I say the whos, that pop up in this chapter. Its short, but there's plenty to it :)

****FLASHBACK****

The day after Oliver and Tommy left found Felicity drumming her fingers against the edge of the desk. The gig that had been set up on the fly had gone remarkably well, with the newly formed Pretty Rich sticking mostly to covers. They had, however, done "Volatile," the song they had jammed to in the apartment. Felicity had been nervous, but it was Nyssa of all people who calmed her down.

"Focus on your breathing." The woman had said. "Think about how it felt in the apartment, and just hang on to that feeling."

Thanksgiving was in a month, and the entire group from the apartment, plus Ted, had been invited to spend it at the Lance's. They had pretty much decided that if they didn't kill each other over the course of the weekend, they would actually try this whole "being a band" thing.

"Does this mean you're finally admitting Ted's your boyfriend?" Sara had teased Laurel over lunch one day.

"Yep!" exclaimed Laurel without a trace of shame.

"Finally!" Sara replied.

Now, Felicity just had to stay focused on school and work for the month. MIT scholarships were hard to earn, and she didn't want to lose hers over something as uncertain as playing music. The job at Boston Bean wouldn't cover her costs, but she sure as hell couldn't afford to lose it either. Still, she found her fingers drifting to her diary, and flipping to a fresh page. "First Impressions," she scribbled at the top.

****END FLASHBACK****

Most of the East Coast went by in a blur. Screaming crowds, hotel rooms, long hours on the bus. Originally, Roy had been supposed to ride with Diggle and Lyla, or with the stage crew, but somehow after that trip from New York to Philly, he always ended up on the band bus. Everyone liked him except, apparently, Thea, who snapped at him every time he tried to talk to her.

The bus ride from Atlanta to Miami was a long one, and even with breaks everyone was driving each other insane by the time they pulled up in front of the hotel. In fact, the last hour or so of the ride had been spent with everyone screaming until the bus driver had threatened to pull over and call the Diggles. Then, there was dead silence. It was in this state of simmering ugliness that their little pack slouched off of the bus to see Walter and Moira Steele, owners of Permanent Records and therefor their bosses, waiting for them. Immediately, everyone felt better. Moira and Walter looked out for their artists without tolerating any nonsense, meaning that a good talk with them would get everyone's heads back in the game.

"Its good to see all of you again!" Moira exclaimed. "You all look fairly miserable though, and I'll bet after 10 hours on that bus. Go get yourselves cleaned up and ready for tonight, and we'll all talk after the show. Walter and I are staying at a friend's house nearby, so we'll do it over a late dinner." Walter nodded his consent, and they all shuffled by the couple murmuring their "Hello"s and "Nice to see you"s.


	5. Chapter 5

Still don't own it. I know the last chapter was on the short side compared to the ones before it, but I didn't feel the need to write the show, and it would have felt weird to me putting the before-and-after in the same chapter without the in-between. Thanks again for all of the support so far, now let the band play on!

****FLASHBACK****

"Thunk thunk chick-a thunk" went Oliver's drums behind her. Felicity counted measures and started singing when the time was right. After Thanksgiving had turned out so well, the band had decided to stay in Boston and play shows over winter break. Ted had officially become the manager of The Pretty Rich, with Laurel handling their publicity. Felicity was surprised at how easily her stage fright had dissipated after a few shows, and now she felt a slight ache in her chest every time the group strode off stage for the night. Tonight, however, marked their tenth show, including the one all those months ago, and according to Ted, that deserved a celebration. Instead of leaving the bar after their set, the 9 of them (Carter had actually been making it to shows lately,) crammed around a table and started ordering drinks. After a couple rounds, Ted cleared his throat.

"So gang," he began, "My old friend Roy works at Permanent Records, and according to him, they're looking for fresh talent."

The reaction was immediate, and, quite frankly, made Felicity feel a bit lonely as everyone shrieked and kissed their significant other before turning and hugging everybody else within reach.

"Details!" Thea demanded, squeezing Carter's hand and grinning widely.

"Ok, well, you know Walter and Moira Steele started the label about 10 years back. They're obviously always trying to find the next big group instead of just putting out new albums from artists they already have. I didn't tell you guys in case it didn't pan out, but Roy was at a show last week and just got back to me. The Pretty Rich are invited to a meeting with the Steeles next Sunday afternoon."

More celebrations followed, and Felicity lost herself in dancing and drinking with her band mates and friends. When the bar was closing, however, she sighed a little as everyone paired off and headed home. She was had just hailed her own taxi, when Tommy's voice blared drunkenly into her ear.

"COME HOME WITH US!" he exclaimed, ginning. Oliver, holding on to Tommy's hand on the other side, was nodding, and when Felicity looked confused, he chimed in with his boyfriend.

"For a nightcap!" Oliver said. "You're the only one not going home with someone, and we're not letting you go home alone." With that pronouncement, Oliver slid into the cab, and Tommy hip-checked her in before sitting down himself. They put their heads on each shoulder, while Oliver gave the driver her address.

"I thought I was going home with you!" Felicity exclaimed, giggling.

"We'll stop at that liquor store near your apartment." Oliver said.

"We're sure as hell not going back to Thea's place when she's with that douche" Tommy added.

"OK," Felicity replied. Heck, it was much better than going home alone.

****END FLASHBACK****

As promised, the bus took them to where Walter and Moira were staying instead of to the hotel after the show. They shuffled into the house, and were greeted by the Steeles.

"Perfect timing" Walter exclaimed. "Raisa has just told me that dinner is ready."

Dinner turned out to be make-your-own burritos with piles of perfectly cooked toppings available. It was the perfect post-show meal, and everyone waded happily through the food. When they were all done, they moved to the house's living room, where a bar cart had been set up with coffee, various additives, and a couple types of alcohol. When they had all poured and settled down. Walter cleared his throat.

"The rest of the Permanent Records bands have been informed of this, but as you have been on the road, you obviously couldn't be around for the meeting."

Felicity, perched on the couch between her boys, noticed that everyone looked anxious. Walter's face was anything but cheerful, which was out of character for a man who always had a smile. Moira took over the talking.

"Star Lab Records has had their eye on us for quite some time now. Traditionally, they've stuck with electronic bands and DJ's like the Metahumans and DJ Boomerang, but they're been looking to expand their footprint and..." Moira trailed off, looking awkward, so Walter picked up again.

"As of Tuesday, Permanent will be a wholly owned subsidy of Star Lab. No one will lose their contracts, however, Moira and I will no longer be involved at the label. That honor will be with Harrison Wells. He will be meeting with you in Dallas, as Carrie Cutter will be in town the same weekend as you. Moira and I wanted the chance to talk to you first. It has been a privilege to sign you, and we are so proud of how well this tour is going so far. We know you'll continue to do amazing work, and we very much look forward to seeing what that work is."

Stunned silence greeted Walter's speech. How could it be that the record label who had taken them in just over a year ago suddenly wouldn't be standing behind them. Roy cleared his throat.

"Walter, Moira...I will miss you. You were the ones who took a chance on a crazy kid who was making money fixing and tuning instruments in pawn shops, and I can't tell you how amazing the last 3 years have been. I think I speak for us all when I say our lives would not be the same without you."

Felicity nodded, wanting to add something, but the words stuck and instead she just got up and put her arms around Moira, who looked like she was holding back tears. Roy's words and her movement seemed to trigger something, and suddenly everyone, including Lyla and Diggle who were usually so stoic, was hanging to on each other. Soon enough, they would have to go on to Montgomery to continue the tour, but for now, they needed a moment to mourn.


	6. Chapter 6

Do I own it? No. Would I love to? Yes. y'know what else I love? The fact that there are over a thousand views on this story. Y'all are amazing! Anyways, Dallas is shaping up to be a big night for our heroes, what with Carter coming to town and meeting Mr. Wells and such. That's not for another chapter though though. I also pulled a J.K. Rowling, and know exactly what the last line of the story will be, whenever it rolls around. Lots of smoaking billionaires and a back story for Roy in this chapter, hope you enjoy!

****FLASHBACK****

When Felicity started stirring the morning after Ted told them about the record deal, she was way warmer than one expected to be on a winter morning in Boston, even with blankets and heating. She wiggled a little bit, surprised to find her movement restricted. She couldn't be that tangled up in the covers, could she? Slowly, Felicity opened her eyes to see...OH! Tommy Merlin's bright blue orbs were gazing at her, their arms and legs tangled together.

"Good morning beautiful," he murmured, pecking her softly on the lips.

"Shouldn't you be saying that to your boyfriend?" Felicity mumbled back, confused about Tommy Merlyn in her bed but to comfortable to really care much.

"He already did," came a voice from the doorway.

Felicity twisted around a bit to see Oliver standing at the entrance to her bedroom, wearing nothing but dark green boxer briefs. Which reminded her...she peaked under the covers to see Tommy in the same state of dress as Oliver, though his were black, and realized that she was wearing an over sized t-shirt with nothing underneath.

"Okay then." Felicity replied to Oliver. She then addressed them both, questioning, "What happened last night. I don't remember much after the cab."

Tommy laughed as he rolled out of bed and to his feet, pulling Felicity along with him.

"Let's talk about it over breakfast." he replied, walking them towards the kitchen and putting his other arm around Oliver on the way.

When they got to the brightly lit room, Sara and Nyssa both had pancakes and coffee in front of them, with more places set and more food cooking. Oliver finished the batch of pancakes and Felicity poured herself and Tommy coffee before they joined the two women at the table. Neither Nyssa nor Sara were fully dressed either, leaving Felicity less anxious than she would have expected to be about her lack of garments. There was comfortable silence as they ate, until Sara broke it.

"So, the two of us had a pretty amazing night last night. What did you three do?" She questioned with a smirk.

"That's what I've been wondering too," Felicity replied, surprising herself with the amount of sass in her tone. Oliver and Tommy shared a look, and Oliver started.

"Well, we made that stop at the liquor store, and grabbed a bottle of tequila." "Good tequila" Tommy chimed in." "The best" Sara added, while Nyssa nodded. Felicity gave her a look.

"Well the three of you weren't going to drink the whole thing!" Sara replied defensively. "Anyways, the three of you came upstairs and the five of us went through the bottle. The three of you went to your room, and Nyssa and I went to mine. That's all I know."

Felicity turned back to Tommy. He was the one who she had woken up to, he could be the one to explain. He hesitated for a second, then seemed to decide just to say it.

"We slept together." Tommy stated. "We're bi." Oliver added, rather unnecessarily. "Its not the first time we've done this, but we didn't mean to with you. We were going to all just go to sleep in your bed, since you wouldn't let us crash on the couch, but stuff just kind of...happened."

Felicity felt herself blushing while the others giggled. Finally, she figured out something to say.

"Was it good?" she stammered out.

"The best." Tommy and Oliver replied in unison, kissing her on either cheek. Nyssa and Sara rolled their eyes.

****END FLASHBACK****

The Montgomery and New Orleans legs of the tour seemed muted somehow. The lights were just as bright, the sounds came through crystal clear, the crowd roared. Somehow, though, Felicity felt like she was in a daze, and she could tell she wasn't the only one. Roy, especially seemed down in the dumps, and she decided to talk to him when she had remembered what he had said about the Steeles taking a chance on him.

"Hey." she began, sitting next to him with about an hour left until Dallas.

"Hi." he replied.

"So, I'm curious. What did you mean when you said the Steeles found you working in a pawn shop?"

Roy gave a grim little smile. "I was wondering when someone would ask about that, though I was kinda hoping it would be..." he trailed off for a moment, then snapped out of it and went on.

"I have no training with fixing anything besides cars. When my dad wasn't drunk, he taught me how to repair them. I learned how to tell if something sounded right or not. I liked fixing things, working with parts and pieces. You probably know that from your computers." Felicity nodded, and Roy took a deep breath.

"When I was 16, I'd had enough of not knowing whether he would be great or fucked up, and it was the second more often than not. Mom died when I was 4 from an OD, so I left. Started wandering the country, ended up in Boston. You know how there are all those musicians that will set up on corners and play for cash?" Felicity nodded again and he went on. "One day, I was walking by one of them just as something went wrong with his keyboard. I didn't know the first thing about the instrument, but I knew how to open things up and put them back together, so I offered to try and fix it. It worked. He started introducing me to his buddies. I'd fix their stuff, and in the process, I would learn what it sounded like when a guitar was in tune, or if snares needed replacing. It didn't really pay though, so I started going around to pawn shops, offering to fix up instruments that people brought in. One day, a couple of guys came in as I was working, looking for guitars. One really liked an instrument that I hadn't gotten to yet, so I fixed it for him. They had just gotten signed to Permanent, they were impressed, and so they took me back to the studio. Moira and Walter hired me as a sort of in-house instrumental handyman, and trained me to work the sound boards. The rest, as they say, is history" Roy concluded.

Felicity was surprised. She'd known that Roy hadn't had the easiest life, but she'd never imagined a story like that. She'd never imagined a story that was, in some ways, so similar to her own. Her first impulse was to hug Roy, but she didn't think that would go over too well so she merely nodded and said "That's quite a life."

The young man nodded, looking a bit like he was still stuck in the past. Felicity knew the feeling. Instead of commenting on it directly though, she pushed him towards the future.

"Do you think you'll stay on at Star Labs?" She questioned.

"I don't know if they'll want me." Roy confessed. "I really don't have any solid credentials besides Walter and Moira's words."

"And ours." Felicity said firmly. "Everyone in this band would vouch for you in a heartbeat. All of us." She repeated, seeing Roy's mouth about to open in protest.

"Thanks." he mumbled.

They sat in silence for a few moments as the bus rolled through the streets of the city, finally stopping at their home for the night. As they unloaded themselves from the bus, Felicity caught Thea looking at Roy with interest. She suddenly realized that the keyboard player had been sitting in front of Roy for most of the ride, meaning she would have overheard their entire conversation. Felicity didn't have time to puzzle over the look on Thea's face, however. They had a show tonight, and tomorrow afternoon there was the meeting with Harrison Wells.


	7. Chapter 7

Still don't own it! So, here we are in Dallas. Sorry if you wanted the record meeting with Permanent in this chapter, I figured one record-label moment in a chapter was enough, and I wanted a girls-only scene anyways. Without further ado, I present, chapter 7:

****FLASHBACK****

The last week of break flew by. Tommy and Oliver were apartment hunting in Boston in case the record deal went through, but Felicity was to busy to go with them often. She, Thea, and Sara had their last semesters at MIT, Harvard, and Northeastern, respectively, coming up, and all of the chaos with the band and her-was it a relationship?- meant Felicity needed some time to get herself together. Nyssa was generally busy with running the Dojo she had taken over after her father died, and Laurel had work at the P.R. Firm, but the five girls found a chance to get together for lunch on Wednesday.

"So." Laurel started, sipping a mid-day martini, "You and the boys?"

Felicity groaned.

"You do know that's not gonna be pretty if you get signed and break up right?"

"I know, I know. But, I mean...It's been a while. Like, since Cooper-freshman-year a while. And they're very sweet." Felicity smiled, thinking of the dinner-and-movie date they'd had on Sunday, and the kisses they dropped amongst themselves when they saw each other Monday and Tuesday. "And hey!" She suddenly defended herself, "having a manager and P.R. person dating could end pretty badly to y'know." Sara made the "oooooh!" noise while Nyssa laughed softly.

Laurel rolled her eyes and stuck out her tongue at her sister. "Yeah yeah, you're right." She shifted her attention to Thea in revenge. "What about you. You're in a non band-related relationship, how's that going?" she questioned, ignoring Sara's noise of indignation. The five women continued to chatter until they had to separate, reminding each other about the meeting, 10 AM sharp, Sunday, Permanent Records.

****END FLASHBACK****

The Dallas show went well, in part, Felicity suspected, because they knew Mr. Wells was in the audience and they wanted to make a good impression on their new studio head. The next morning, Oliver, Tommy, Thea, Sara, and Felicity piled into a car he had sent, while Laurel and Ted rode with Digg.

"You don't have to come, its just a meeting," Oliver had said to John. The bodyguard had rolled his eyes.

"It's my job to protect you guys. Just because there are no cameras or screaming fans doesn't mean there won't be any danger."

Oliver had protested a bit, but Thea had coaxed him into agreeing. It was a party of 8, therefore, who rolled up to Star Labs' Dallas office. Roy had amps to fine-tune and Lyla, according to Digg, had woken up feeling nauseous. Oliver buzzed the door of the office suite, and it swung open immediately as a red-haired woman stormed out.

"He's in a mood today," warned Carrie Cutter as she barged through them.

Digg watched her go, then turned his head to the thin, bespectacled, black-haired man who was standing in the doorway rubbing his forehead. Harrison Wells stepped back a bit to let them in, then lead the whole group to a conference room. They all sat down besides Diggle, who stood utterly still in a corner, and Wells started to speak.

"I'm sorry about that. Ms. Cutter's show Friday evening didn't do as well as we had hoped, so she's been in a bit of a mood. But we'll get back to that later. Right now, let's talk about the Pretty Rich."

Ted spoke first, as agreed, and for the next hour or so, they talked about what the band had done so far.

"It is very impressive." Wells said. "Signed in early January, album in late March, 3 #1's in April and May, started a cross-country tour in mid-June. And three of you finished your degrees in that time. Yes, quite amazing indeed. However, I was wondering what you had planned for the future. Tommy and Oliver, you own a club if I'm not mistaken, what are you planning to do with that?"

It was Tommy who replied. "We still have partial ownership of the place, but it has pretty much been turned over to our friend, Quentin. We decided back in January that if we were going to do the band thing, we would be all in. We trust Q to run the place, and we're thinking of selling it all to him. He was our manager back when we started, so he certainly knows the place well."

Wells nodded. "So you're definitely planning on a second album."

"Absolutely." said Felicity. "The people we've met since this started, the tour, everything else has been really inspiring and I've already started on a couple of songs."

"And I've been looking at a calendar." Ted added. "The tour will be over in late August. If they take some well-deserved time off in the fall, The Pretty Rich's sophomore album could still come out by this time next year."

"Excellent." replied Wells. "Now, I understand that you," he nodded at Felicity, "are generally the songwriter, and that the rest of the band does the music."

Felicity nodded, but put in, "Thea has actually been doing some songs lately. She's got a really great one called 'Here/Not' that she showed me the other day. I'd say it deserves to be on the album."

"We'll consider it," said Wells. "What you need to understand is that here at Star Labs, we like to mix it up sometimes, have our artists help each other out. Carrie Cutter, for example, hasn't been doing so well lately. If you choose to stay on with us, you'll end up with her on one or two of your tracks. Maybe another will have Huntress B, or The Reverse."

There was silence, and Diggle tensed, noticing the looks that the band members exchanged. Sara, especially, looked livid at the idea of someone bashing into her old roomie's work. It was Laurel, ever the diplomat, who finally spoke up.

"That would certainly be an interesting combination Mr. Wells," she stated. "As the head of P.R. for the Pretty Rich, I must say that it would be a project to create a campaign for both Carrie's audience and theirs."

Wells laughed a bit. "Well dear, you could stay on as part of the team, but we like to keep things in-house here. The Pretty Rich would be assigned a head of public relations from our team, as well as a general manager of course." he stated, nodding to Ted as he finished.

Diggle was worried he would have to physically restrain Sara from hurting Wells, but Oliver jumped in before he could with a quick, "Thank you for your time Mr. Wells, you've certainly given us a lot to think about. "

"Of course, of course!" Wells replied, standing to show them out. "I understand it is a big change from the independence you had before at Permanent, but give it some time and I'm sure the idea will start to settle." On that note, they all trooped out of the building and into the cars, where Thea checked her phone and promptly burst into tears.


	8. Chapter 8

not mine. So, first of all, how 'bout that new episode. I'm honestly kinda hoping Tatsu turned into Katana after all, its a cool character. On with this, rather more pleasant, universe. Here we'll see the meeting with Permanent in contrast, and find out what's up with Thea. Also, tons of bonding between lots of characters. So..

****FLASHBACK****

"Well, here we are," Tommy observed, as the seven of them stared up at the Permanent Records building.

"Thanks, Captain Obvious," Oliver replied, in an obvious attempt to lighten the mood. It didn't work very well, but after another moment of staring, Ted stepped forwards and opened the door. They got their security passes quietly, and rode the elevator up the the seventh floor.

"Lucky number seven," Felicity murmured. Oliver and Tommy squeezed her hands, then pecked each other quickly on the lips.

"Cut it out," Laurel muttered, fidgeting anxiously. Ted took this as an opportunity to try and kiss her, which released the tension and set them all laughing. Just then, the doors pinged open, right into a glass-walled conference room, with a table where Moira Steele sat at the head. She raised an eyebrow, and they sobered up immediately, situating themselves around the table. Moira had just opened her mouth when Walter rushed out of another elevator, taking his place next to her with a kiss on the cheek. "Sorry dear."

Moira rolled her eyes and spoke. "Well, I was about to apologize for my husband's lateness, but apparently he is able to do that for himself, which means we can jump straight into business. Roy showed us a live video of you, and I must say we are very impressed. However, live can be very different from studio, and we'd like to see how you fare in one of those. We have some instruments here, and we'd like you to give it a whirl before anything gets signed. Roy can do sound board."

The band members looked at each other in surprise. They hadn't expected to be playing, but hey, who were they to complain? Moira was going on.

"I understand Laurel and Ted have been managing you, so if you don't mind, we'll send the band to the studio while the four of us talk business here. You five and Roy will join us again after you've gotten something done."

"Works for us!" Tommy exclaimed, starting to rise from his chair."Wait. Where are we going?"

Walter smiled a bit. "9th floor. Roy is there, he'll guide you through the process."

****END FLASHBACK****

Oliver looked alarmed. "What is it Thea?" he inquired, reaching over to put a hand on his twin's knee.

"C-c-carter." She sobbed out. "He-he told me not to give him a backstage pass because he wanted to see me up on stage from the audience. He-he said he wanted to see me being a star. He was s-s-supposed to meet us at the hotel now. It turns out he-he didn't even come. And now they want to take away Laurel and Ted, and probably Roy and the Diggles, and-and-and, everything is just falling apart."

Oliver's face had gone from alarmed to furious, and had now settled on sympathetic.

"I'm gonna kill that Carter guy." he muttered, the rest of the band murmuring their assent. "As for the label, everything will be ok. We don't have to sign any papers until the end of this tour. We'll figure it out. I promise."

Thea bent over so her head was was on top of Oliver's hand, and he stroked her hair with the other one. When they got back to the hotel, Thea looked at Tommy. "They have an arcade here. Kicking your ass might help me feel better."

Tommy laughed. "You can try." he teased. The two of them headed in that direction, while Felicity retreated to the room to think and write. Sara and Oliver, meanwhile, shared a look and headed for their rooms. They met up in the gym a few minutes later, headed for the heavy bag.

"I hate him!" Sara ground out, slugging the thing while Oliver held it.

"Which one?" he queried.

"BOTH!" she exclaimed, giving the bag a particularly vicious kick. "Wells for trying to separate us all and shove fucking Huntress B into the mix, Carter for being a dick. You know he was never good to her right? He would cancel dates and forget stuff, and then buy her stuff to try and make up for it. Felicity and I TOLD her (punch, punch, kick) that it was a bad idea to try and long-distance with him, hell, we told her to break up with him after the third time he ignored her texts for three days straight, but NO!" she railed, as they switched places.

"That's my sister! If he thinks he can just break her heart and get away with it, he's got another thought coming!" Oliver growled, picking up Sara's thread. "And (kick, punch) Wells! Does he not get that Laurel and Ted have gotten us a sold out shows across the whole damn country!" He punctuated the last three words with punches, enjoying the feeling of working up a sweat. Suddenly, a thought occurred to him. "Hey, where'd you learn to fight?" he asked Sara.

"Nyssa." She replied, taking over beating up the bag. "I gained the freshman 15 hardcore, and wanted to get back into shape. Her dojo is right near the Northwestern campus, and I wandered in one day. I liked my first class, so I kept going back. By the time I got the advanced classes, I was pretty damn good, but I was still intimidated as hell by her."

"So what happened?"

Sara laughed. "She beat the crap out of me for weeks. Finally I got the nerve to ask her to dinner."

"And?"

"She said yes, then beat the crap out of me again. She still can, but she has to work harder for it now. What about you?"

"Thea got roughed up on the way home from school one time. She got away with pepper spray and because she's smart, but we started taking classes together. She dropped out after the basics, she can still throw a mean punch, but I kept going. I wanted to be able to defend her if she ever needed it. Not much I can do to Carter Bowen when he's in Boston and we're here though." Oliver finished bitterly, gesturing for Sara to hold the bag before giving it a harsh punch.

"Ugh." Sara replied. The two of them continued working out until they figured it was time to shower before getting on the bus.


	9. Chapter 9

maybe if I wish hard enough, I'll get the rights for my birthday. As of now...nope. As of now,I can, however, thank you for your continued support of my tale, and present you with chapter 9

****FLASHBACK****

Roy grinned at her through the glass front of the recording studio, and Felicity smiled back before belting out the next lyrics. The Pretty Rich had come out of their initial meeting with Permanent records with a deal for a 12 song album. A cross-country tour would be required if the album did well enough, and there was also an option for two more records if everything worked out well on the first. Now, they were about mid-way through recording the disc, and Felicity was loving every minute. Sure, it was stressful keeping up with long hours in the studio as well as her schoolwork at MIT, but it would be worth it, she knew, if this whole thing worked out. If not, she'd still have a degree from MIT. The event of suddenly having two amazing options for her life when she'd grown up without any was actually the inspiration for "Open Road," the song they were currently working on.

An even more unexpected result of the band was the sudden round of apartment-shuffling that had come out of the whole thing. Tommy and Oliver had found one that they liked just as Ted and Laurel decided to move in together. Instead another two people going through the whole process of finding a place, the couple had moved into Felicity's old room, while she started staying with Thea. The boys had asked her to move in with them, but all things considered she wasn't ready for the relationship to be moving quite that fast. Her musings were interrupted by Roy's voice as the song wound down.

"Great job everyone, take 5," his voice said over the speakers.

They trooped out of the room to get some space, and Felicity watched as Roy walked over to Thea. Felicity couldn't catch every word, but she was curious about the young sound tech. Besides, band mates looked out for each other, and Roy seemed to have been staring at Thea since they started recording. Felicity inched closer.

"...talent. I see tons of...but you actually know what you're doing. Pretty...if you ask me." she heard Roy's voice say. Thea's reply was guarded.

"Thanks. I practice."

"Must be...a band where everyone is so close. You guys...having fun. Not like...just cuz they want to be rich." There was a beat.

"I know...beat me up. But umm...dinner together?" Roy finished. All Felicity could hear of Thea's reply was "boyfriend," and her tone was ice cold.

It was too bad, Felicity reflected. Roy seemed like a nice guy, and Carter had been acting ever more obnoxious now that Thea was spending her time outside of class with them recording instead of at his beck and call. Even her invitations to come to the studio, which Nyssa regularly accepted from Sara, weren't doing much to mend the bridge.

****END FLASHBACK****

Dallas to Albuquerque was another long stretch on the bus. Unlike Atlanta to Miami, however, everyone was pulling together. After everyone had napped and settled, they gathered in the living room area. In the center of the table was a pile of junk food and coffee was brewing in the kitchenette. Thea held a cell phone on speaker, with Lyla on the other end, Oliver was drumming a pencil against a piece of paper, and Ted and Laurel had their laptops open. It was Laurel who cleared her throat and started the conversation.

"So..." she began, sounding more hesitant than any of them had ever heard her. "I guess the first thing is to decide whether we want to keep going after this tour is over. I mean, theoretically speaking we could just all go back to our old lives, especially now that you three," she gestured towards Thea, Sara, and Felicity, "have your degrees done."

Ted put his arm around her shoulder, and there was a moment of silence after Laurel spoke. It was Roy, of all people, who broke it.

"I don't." he said. "Have a life to go back to. I mean, I would find my way, and I know I'm just the sound guy, but I don't want to go back to figuring it out as I go. I like working with you guys."

Thea, Felicity was somewhat surprised to notice, squeezed Roy's shoulder before she spoke. "I agree. I definitely love being in the band. I mean, the business degree is great, but I'm a fucking rock star!" she exclaimed. Then she sobered, and continued. "The problem is, I don't want to be a rock star without everyone here. I don't want to have strangers watching my back instead of you," she said directly into the phone. "I don't want random people managing us, no matter how professional they are. I don't want someone who is going to warp every sound we make, instead of working with us like Roy," (another shoulder squeeze).

Sara spoke next, and her voice was steady. "I'm not losing my sister."

"Good girl." Diggle's voice said out of the phone, and they all nodded in agreement.

"Since we all seem to be taking turns." Tommy observed drily, "I hate the Metahumans. Hate 'em. And I love you guys, but I'd rather disband than have to deal with 'Blackout' and 'The Mist' and whatever the hell else they're all calling themselves. But I don't want to break up the band, so I'm feeling a little stuck."

"And Huntress B!" Oliver chimed in on Tommy's train of thought. "She's such a psycho in the media! I don't want to be stuck in a glass box with that woman!"

"He'd better not want to be stuck anywhere with any other women." Felicity mumbled into Tommy's ear. He guffawed loudly, turning everyone's attention to them.

"Something to share with the class?" Ted asked, eyebrows raised.

"I was just telling Tommy how much I enjoy working with the band, and that I've discovered that people can be almost as interesting as computers." Felicity sassed back. "What do you guys think?" she asked into the phone.

"I think you kids have a lot of thinking to do. I know most of you have other options, but Johnny and I" (They grinned. Lyla was the only person who could get away with calling Digg, Johnny) "have noticed how much you all love this. If you want to stay together, but don't want to go to Star Lab, you're going to have to start looking at other options," the older woman finished. All Digg added was an "mmmhmm," but they knew he agreed with his wife.

That seemed to settle it. Thea and Lyla hung up, and Laurel and Ted began researching other record companies. Laurel went through the offers that they had received since the news came out that they weren't strictly under contract for the next recording, while Ted was checking out other companies entirely. Oliver wrote down any that seemed particularly interesting, while the rest of them dug into the snacks and started on a sort of "wish list" for what they would want out of a company and a contract. By the time they got to the city in New Mexico, everyone was feeling tired but happy. It felt like they were getting something done.


	10. Chapter 10

ixnay on the ownershipay. WAAAH! Chapter 10 is here! I wanted to thank everyone for all your support so far, but I miss reviews! If you could cribble something down in that little box at the bottom and hit the button, you would have even more of my metaphorical gratitude. Lots of happy news in both parts of this chapter, think Dallas for a hint. It may be short, but it is jam-packed. Anyways, heeere's the story!

****FLASHBACK****

Sara was gripping Nyssa's hand, hard. Nyssa and Felicity were holding on to each other, and the fingers on Felicity's other side were laced with Tommy's. Tommy and Oliver, then Thea, then Carter, then Roy, then Ted and Laurel were all attached, with Laurel and Sara completing the circle. Any other time it would have been hokey, but right now they all needed the support. The commercials ended, and the radio announcer's voice came back on.

"AAAAND here it is, your number 2 song of the week! I GIVE YOU CARRIE CUTTER, with 'Shot me in the Heart!'"

Felicity was pretty sure she screamed, but everyone else was in an uproar too. They had been watching the numbers all week as "Shot me in the Heart" and "Anything but a Hero" warred for the top spot on the charts. If "Shot me in the Heart" was number two...but everyone was shushing each other as the rival tune came to an end.

"Again, that was Carrie Cutter with 'Shot me in the Heart'. Which means the number one song on this week's Top 40 Countdown, the very first single from newcomers The Pretty Rich, iiiiiis, 'ANYTHING BUT A HERO!'"

Felicity was almost surprised she didn't faint.

****END FLASHBACK****

Felicity was nervous. Felicity was very nervous. she hadn't been back to Vegas since she left for college. With all the hustle and bustle of trying to find a new record label while on tour, she hadn't been able to think about it too much, but here they were, pulling up in front of a hotel just off the strip. She had promised her mother that she would visit while in town, but now she was hunting for an reason not to. She loved her mother, but the few times she had come out to Boston had shown that the two women had as little in common as ever. An excuse came in the form of a group text from Lyla, saying "Meet in our room."

When the group had gathered, Lyla stood up from the chair she had been in, with John squeezing her hand as the hum of chatter ceased.

"I'm pregnant." Lyla declared.

There was an outpouring of congratulations. There were a lot of hugs. There was Tommy running for the minibar before Thea reminded him that pregnant women couldn't drink.

"Doesn't mean I can't!" he replied, gleeful and reaching for an airplane-sized bottle of vodka. Thea shoved him back to his armchair.

When everyone had settled down again, Diggle took over the talking.

"Obviously, Lyla and I will stay with you for the rest of the tour. However, starting a family means that moving around won't really reasonable anymore. While you all have been working on a new deal, we found work with a security firm back in Boston. We wanted to give you guys the heads up."

"And we wanted to thank you." Lyla added. "It has been an amazing trip so far, and we're looking forward to the rest of it. We wanted you to know that you will always be welcome for dinner when we get back. And now I'm crying. Why am I crying?"

After Lyla spoke, everyone mingled for a little while, and Felicity took the chance to slip out of the room. Expecting not to have been noticed, she started at Roy's voice in her ear.

"Now you really need to visit your mom."


	11. Chapter 11

not mine. However, after last night's episode, I have to admit they're doing an ok job with it haha. I loved little baby Sara in the show, so I decided to slip her in here too. I figured Felicity needed a bit of a catalyst to visit her mom, and that the Diggles announcing a new addition to their family would make a good one. Now, she just has to actually do it...

****FLASHBACK****

After "Anything but a Hero", they had released "Volatile," and then "Open Road," as singles. It was after "Open Road"'s second week at number one that they were called in for a major meeting with Walter and Moira.

"First of all, we wanted to congratulate you." Walter began. "The album and the singles have been doing very well, and you should all be very proud of yourselves." There was some whooping.

"Now," Moira began, "It is time to talk about the next step. Your album has done well enough to merit a national tour. Obviously, Ted and Laurel will be managing it and doing PR. However, since it is your first time touring, we're going to have Dinah, from our managing department, show you the ropes and help with some of the big things. Alright?"

Everyone nodded their assent, and Laurel looked relieved. "I've got faith in you," Felicity overheard her mutter to Ted, "But it will be nice to have someone who's used to bigger things on board."

"Next up" Walter said, "Is the matter of who will be going on tour with you. Obviously, we here at the studio have a network of Roadies that we can connect you with. As for someone to supervise and fix things when needed and work with the sound crews at venues, Roy has volunteered for the job, if that is ok with all of you."

Thea looked a little worried, but Oliver, seemingly oblivious, replied "yeah, that will be fine."

Moira nodded. "Excellent. Lastly, we need to talk about security. Fans can be remarkably persistent, and I know there have already been some run ins with the paparazzi. We'd like to minimize problems with both of those things on the tour."

Felicity winced. The gossip mags had been particularly vicious with her, Tommy, and Oliver. This week, one of them had published a cover with the three of them out to lunch. The story inside had interviews with "inside sources," claiming that she had destroyed their relationship, and was now playing them against each other. Everyone who mattered knew it to be false, but it had still set Felicity panicking and it had taken a looong dinner and movie date for the guitar player and drummer to calm her sudden insecurities.

While she had been lost in thought, another pair had entered the conference room and Walter had started to introduce them.

"...John and Lyla Diggle. I assure you, they are quite good at what they do. There will be others, too, of course, but they'll be in charge of keeping you all safe."

Felicity looked them over. John was a muscular man about Oliver's height, while Lyla had curly, light brown hair that was tugged into a flawless ponytail and hard, gray-blue eyes. Both of them looked like they could kick some serious ass, and Felicity relaxed a bit at the thought of them watching everyone's backs. Touring sounded fun, more assaults by the paparazzi did not.

"Nice to meet you." said Ted, rising to shake their hands while everyone else nodded.

****END FLASHBACK****

Felicity gulped as Digg pulled up to the curb in front of the club.

"You can do this." he told her.

Felicity nodded once and stepped out of the car. Digg re-entered traffic, having already promised to pick her up whenever she called. She had wanted him to come in with her but she had told her she had to do it alone. Felicity sighed. The place was the same as ever, with gaudy signs she knew would light up at night and music struggling to escape the confines of the dark inside. Unthinkingly, she strode up to the doors and was about to walk through when someone grabbed her arm.

"Where do you think you're...Well if it isn't Miss City."

"Heya Floyd."

"Here to see your mom?"

"Yep."

"Alright then. Congratulations on being a star and all, but you know I'll still kick you out if you start messing with the customers."

"Yes Floyd."

She went in. Floyd Lawton had worked the door as long as she could remember. All she knew was that he was an ex-con who had lost custody of his daughter in the process, but he had always been good to her when she came by to do homework after school. "Don't mess with the customers" was the only rule management had had, and Lawton had never failed to remind her to keep it, or to slip her a chocolate bar. Past the entrance the club was dark, and waitresses wove through the crowd delivering overpriced drinks to already-sloppy customers. Felicity crossed the dance floor to the bar, picking a seat next to the waitress station. And she waited. and waited. and waited, waving off both bartenders-who-were-probably-aspiring-magicians, as well as a couple of men. Finally, her mother popped up next to her with a tray of empty glasses. When Felicity put a hand on her shoulder, the other woman turned around with a false smile plastered on her face.

"Sir if you could wait just a...oh Felicity darling! Come on back! Malcolm, Slade, I'm taking a moment!"

Felicity followed her mother to the familiar staff room. It was dingy, but better lit than the rest of the club and Felicity found herself sinking into the same chair she studied high-school calculus in all those years ago. Her mother plunked down in the one facing her.

"Honey, I am so proud of you! You're all over the radio, and I bought your album! I'd ask you to sign it, but you were always sure to write your name on the drawings you brought home from kindergarten and how many other people have that? And those boys in the band! I know my girl would never do what they're saying, but do you have something going on? hmmmm?"

Felicity waited for her mother to finish, chewing her lower lip when the older woman asked about Tommy and Oliver. And because, well...

"Do you want to get out of here mom?" she asked.

"What?"

"I mean...like, do you want to retire. Move to Florida or Hawaii or something. Or heck, get a place in a high-rise here in town, and find a place to sing. I got my voice from you y'know."

Angela Smoak sighed. "You haven't answered my question about those boys. I'm very happy that you get to use your voice, but it's a bit to late for me to get a recording contract. I don't need to sit and do nothing all day sweetheart. I don't need your sympathy either. All I've wanted was a little more of your time, and I don't think your new money can buy me that."

Felicity was surprised at how bitter her mother sounded by the end of her speech, and then felt guilty. Her mother was never one to shy away from things, if she had wanted money she would have asked. Time, though. Ted had said they would be taking a break after the tour, though with the record company fiasco, everything seemed up in the air. Surely though...

"Plane tickets."

"Excuse me?"

"Money can buy plane tickets. You could visit me, or we could go somewhere together or...something. In the fall, after the tour. And lunch. Money can buy lunch, right now. And I don't need money to give you a backstage pass so you can meet the band tonight. That doesn't cost anything."

Her mother smiled. "I have to pass on lunch, there are people to serve. But tonight is my night off, and we can certainly talk more about a trip together if you decide to pick up your phone every so often."

Felicity winced.

"And you still haven't answered my question about those boys."

"Both. I'm dating both. and they're dating. And I know it sounds crazy, and kinda weird, and kinda like a reality TV show but it works so..."

"So are you happy?"

"Yes."

"Good. That's all I've ever wanted for you. I looking forward to meeting them tonight."

And with that, Angela swept out of the room. Felicity smiled, surprising herself, and called Digg to pick her up. She also sent a text to Ted, asking that an Angela Smoak be put on the backstage list for that night. She stopped smiling and bit her lip. Angela and Thea in one room could be an awful lot of squealing.


	12. Chapter 12

Haven't run into any genies lately, so I still don't own Arrow. Done with Vegas, now we have L.A., and it is a big one for Thea.

****FLASHBACK****

Felicity had had no idea how much effort went into a tour. She had been to a million concerts, admiring the effort and talent that went into the production, but hoooly cow there was a lot of effort. Like costumes. Tours required clothing, and with the amount of work that went into creating the look, the end result could not reasonably be called a mere outfit.

Thea, ever the shopper, was in her element, going wide-eyed every time a new idea was brought up. Tommy was playing along with her, their long friendship shining through in the easy teasing between them.

"Thea," he declared with a dramatic sigh, "They could drape you in seaweed at this point and you'd still be excited."

Everyone laughed, but Felicity found herself envying Laurel and Ted, who were talking numbers with Dinah. And Roy, who was working out what tech they would need to bring along. She liked tech. She understood tech. The edginess of black lace paired with hot pink versus lime green tights, on the other hand...yeah, she was missing computers right about now. She giggled a little to herself, considering what the reaction would be if she just gave everyone a list of hex codes and told them to base her outfit on those.

"Don't see what you're so happy about," Oliver grumbled in her ear, with Sara nodding along on his other side. "I feel like a damn store mannequin."

"Aww but you're such an adorable mannequin" Sara teased before Felicity could. She grinned at the other girl.

"I'm sure all of the other mannequins are quite jealous." Felicity added innocently, winking across his chest. Oliver harrumphed in disgust as the girls collapsed into him, giggling, and Felicity stood on her toes to peck his cheek.

****END FLASHBACK****

Felicity had been in a good mood since everything had worked out so well in Vegas, but Thea's shriek when she got off of the bus in LA burst that bubble pretty quickly. Everyone rushed off after their keyboard player to see what was wrong, then stared in shock at the sight of Carter Bowen with a massive bouquet of flowers. Thea was still screaming, but now, there were actual words. Felicity and Tommy each had to grip one of Oliver's arms to stop him from doing anything stupid, as Thea seemed to be handling it pretty well herself.

"..and you expect flowers are and dinner are going to make it better! I defended you back in Boston, I defended you when they (she gestured wildly towards Sara and Felicity), said it was a bad idea to stay with you, I have done nothing but take your flowers and dinners and chocolates and your fucking LIES. I turned down a cool, supportive, not to mention EXTREMELY ATTRACTIVE GUY, for YOU. I have cried and screamed and panicked over YOU. And I am finished, Carter Bowen. I am so damn FINISHED with you. So cancel the fucking reservation, find the soonest possible flight out of LAX, and if you DARE to show your face in Chicago, I will let everyone who wants to beat the crap out of you, INCLUDING myself, do so."

With that, Thea turned on her heel and walked through the door that Lyla, who appeared to be holding back a smile, was keeping open. Taking her lead, everyone else ignored both Carter himself and the gathered paparazzi and trooped inside. Roy started running as soon as they left the elevators on their floor, skidding to a stop in front of Thea's door and knocking.

She opened it and let Roy in, giving a small wave to everyone else and turning to him.

"You meant me, didn't you?" Roy asked in a rush as soon as the door had shut. "When you told Carter you had turned someone down..." he trailed off suddenly uncertain. Maybe she had just been saying it to get a rise out of Bowen?

Thea walked over to the bed and sat cross legged in the middle. Now that the anger of seeing her freshly-minted ex had worn off, she felt a little awkward about all the things she had said about Roy. He clambered up next to her, and she rested her head on his shoulder.

"Yeah." she sighed. "Yeah, I did. And I'm sorry if I fucked up and took to long, or if I just made this awkward. I'm also sorry because as much as I would love to just start something, right here, right now, in the middle of this bed, I was with Carter for two years. I'm gonna need a little time. But," here, she picked her head up and faced him, "I would really, really like to start something soon."

Thea's head dropped back onto his shoulder, and Roy wrapped her in his arms. When he spoke, it was into her hair.

"You didn't take to long. And as for Carter, of course you'll need some time. I'll be here when you're ready. Still cool, supportive, and did you say extremely, or amazingly attractive?"

Thea groaned a little and leaned back, pulling him with her so they were stretched out facing each other on the bed. "Shut up."

When Sara swiped in later, usually she and Thea took a double bed each while the other three shared a queen, she found the Thea and Roy asleep together on one of the doubles. She rolled her eyes, smiled softly, and headed back out. She would wake them in a few hours to get ready.


	13. Chapter 13

I own nada. I must say, I had a little too much fun writing Thea telling Carter off, but oh well. I obviously am not writing every stop on their tour, and this is one of the chapters where a few cities will be skipped. I like the flashback though, because it lists off everywhere they've been which was kind of fun to figure out. Also, they're stopping in Denver, and I used certain laws to my benefit. If you do not approve, stop when Roy walks in.

****FLASHBACK****

"Alright everyone, settle down." Walter commanded.

Everyone hushed and turned towards the head of the table. The Boston show was in one week, and this was the final big meeting before the tour commenced. The Steeles, the Pretty Rich, Laurel, Ted, Roy, Dinah, and the Diggles were all gathered in the conference room. Walter clicked off the lights and pulled a massive picture of the United States up on the wall. A red line was drawn through the tour route. Moira began speaking, reciting the route and tracing it with a laser pointer.

"You'll be starting right here in Boston, then heading down the east coast. You'll stop in New York, Philadelphia, Richmond, Charlotte, Atlanta, and Miami. From there, you'll go to Montgomery and New Orleans, and then on to Dallas."

Tommy whooped at the mention of New Orleans, and Moira shot him a glare. "Sorry."

She resumed reciting cities.

"After Dallas will be Albuquerque and Phoenix. You'll then kick up to Las Vegas (Felicity chewed he lip), and head back down to LA. You'll spend two days on the road between Los Angeles and Portland, and from there it will be a quick trip to Seattle. After that, you'll start heading back east, hitting Boise on the way to Denver. Wichita is next, then St. Louis and up to Chicago. Next stop is Athens, Ohio, and then 10 hours or so until you're home."

Oliver let out a long, low whistle. "It is going to be a hell of a summer." Felicity punched his arm and agreed, and they moved on to discussing other aspects of the tour.

****END FLASHBACK****

Tommy flopped back on a couch, groaning.

"This is hopeless guys."

Their Denver room was another penthouse, and at present, most of the group was gathered in the main area. The Diggles were outside, and Roy had vanished almost as soon as they arrived, leaving Thea forlornly on the love seat. They had been caught kissing in Seattle, and hadn't bothered to separate since. Oliver and Tommy had gone a bit protective at first, but mostly, everyone was just glad to see Thea happy. Speaking of Tommy though...Felicity lifted his feet, then plopped them back down on her lap and started absentmindedly massaging.

"Don't say that." She replied while Oliver pouted.

"I mean seriously though." Tommy continued. "We've been at this for ages. They all love us, but no one is going to give us what we had with Permanent."

Laurel sighed, rubbing her temple with the hand that wasn't holding Ted's.

"He might be right guys. You can get a new contract easy, its the entourage that's the problem. In which case, Ted and I will go back to real jobs, and we'll just be your number one fans."

"What about Roy?" Thea burst out.

"I'll take him on as an assistant." Ted replied.

Tommy looked between Laurel and Ted. "You three have talked about this, haven't you!"

Laurel nodded, Ted spoke. "We thought it would be best if..."

Thea looked a little betrayed at the thought of Roy leaving. She opened her mouth, but before she could speak, Oliver cut Ted off.

"If nothing. We're not losing you guys."

"And we're not letting you guys give yourselves up for us! You got the big break, not you have a chance to go even bigger, and I'm not going to lose my baby sister that chance!" Laurel replied, turning to Sara.

Sara, for her part, looked outraged. "If you think that some deal means more to me"

The door opened to reveal Roy with a brown paper bag. He looked from Sara, who was glaring at her sister, around the room to Thea, who was glaring at him, and winced a little. He held up the bag and broke the silence.

"I mean, when in Rome right?"

Tommy sighed and reached out a hand. "Give it, you sneaky jackass."

Roy winced a little, handing over the bag and sitting down next to Thea.

"Babe..."

"I don't want to hear it." She replied.

"Fine. But I mean, I'd be working with Ted, so it isn't like I would disappear."

"That's not the point!" Thea exclaimed.

She probably would have said more, but her brother passed her a joint. She looked around, seeming a little embarrassed about the spat, but Felicity caught her eye and made a "no biggie," gesture. At this point, it was lighters being passed around and the room settled as they all lit up and mellowed out.

"Guuuuuuyyyyssss..." Tommy's voice drawled from an infinite distance away.

Everyone shifted around to face him.

"Whaaaaat?" Sara whined in response.

"We started a band. We need a record label. Everyone else sucks. We should start a record label."

Thea giggled into Roy's side, and Laurel leaned out of Ted's, towards the notebook still on the table from their earlier planning.

"TO DO: START A RECORD LABEL," she scrawled out before falling back into her boyfriend.

"Marry me." He said into her hair.

She kissed him, long and slow, then leaned forward and added "MARRY TED," to her newly formed to-do list.

"Okay."


	14. Chapter 14

I own nada. And...yeah, all that happened. So now we get to see how that whole "stoned to-do list" thing turns out. Laurel is so uptight in the show a lot of the time, it was a little hard to write her high, but I hope it came off okay. I think her trying something new as the Canary helped a little also. I think next chapter is going to be the last chapter, though I might tack some little add-ons/deleted scenes type stuff on to the end, or into separate documents. Thank you so much to all of my readers, favoriters, followers, and reviewers, there is nothing quite the same kind of awesome as seeing a new notification in my e-mail. On with the show! (...literally)

****FLASHBACK****

"Hey" Felicity jumped about a mile in the air, then turned to face Nyssa, who had her arm linked with her girlfriend's.

"Don't do that to me!" Felicity exclaimed. "I'm freaked out enough without you using your freaky ninja stealth powers to creep up on me!"

They were all backstage before their first show on the tour, right at home in Boston. Felicity was freaking out in a way that she hadn't since their first few shows, and Nyssa startling her wasn't exactly helpful.

Nyssa looked contrite.

"Sorry. You look panicky so I figured we could go over some of those breathing exercises if you wanted."

"That would actually be perfect." Felicity replied. "Let's find somewhere a little less...chaotic."

Sure enough, as the three women went to find a place to relax for a second, they heard Thea shriek behind them.

"Put me dooooown!" she squealed.

Tommy laughed as Oliver swung his twin in circles. Though the siblings certainly looked alike, Oliver was much bigger than his sister. He had now used this advantage to plop her on to a couch, and was tickling her mercilessly while she giggled and play-fought him off.

"Alright everyone!" came Dinah's voice. She was backstage with them for this first show to set a model for Laurel and Ted, who were currently flanking her.

Thea and Oliver stopped their battle as Felicity, Sara, and Nyssa reappeared. Sara kissed her girlfriend quickly before taking her place in line to go on.

"It's showtime!"

They ran into the glaring stage lights.

****END FLASHBACK****

"Were you serious?" Laurel asked Ted.

The couple had banned everyone else from the closet where they kept some of their instruments. They now sat facing each other on a couple of amps. Ted cleared his throat.

"Yeah. I know we haven't been dating for long, but we've known each other for a while. We're surviving a summer on a freaking nationwide tour together. And I love you. I don't have a ring, and it was rather unplanned, but Laurel Lance, I was high out of my mind and all I could think of was how much I loved you. So yes, I was very serious. Were you?"

Laurel was sobbing a little, and laughing at herself sobbing, and she reached her hand out to grab Ted's.

"Absolutely."

She shifted on to his lap. They kissed until Laurel stood up, dragging Ted with her and pushing open the door. The two of them stepped out to the main area of the bus, and Laurel smiled and held up their intertwined hands.

"We're getting married!"

Sara was the first one up, hugging her sister and then Ted. Everyone else was hot on her heels, and for a while the whole area was a jumble of hugs and random limbs and laughter. They called the Diggles and Nyssa and both sets of parents, and then everyone hugged again, and Thea asked about a ring, so Ted promised he would take Laurel shopping the second they got back to Boston.

"Maybe not the first second." Laurel mumbled, and everyone laughed as they settled back into the couches. When everyone was comfortable, it was TOmmy who spoke up.

"So I must say," he began, "I have wonderful ideas when I'm not thinking about them."

The whole group laughed.

"But seriously," said Oliver, Taking over speaking. "Tommy and I have plenty of experience running a business, and Thea just got a Harvard degree in it. Felicity is a certified tech genius. Roy can do sound, and he has experience in a studio. Hell, we could even partner with people Digg and Lyla to get security. We could pull this off easy. I mean, why didn't we come up with this sooner again?."

"Because I wasn't high enough to be brilliant," Tommy responded without missing a beat.

"Shut up guitar-boy," Thea replied, bumping his knee with her platform heel. Felicity, sensing a solid round of bickering coming on, decided to head it off.

"SO!" she began loudly, "If we're doing this, which apparently we are, we're going to need a name for our little collective."

Silence reigned.

"Hero." said Sara finally. "It means something to us, its clean, its simple, and its what we want to be to any bands that we sign. If we're going to do this, we should be Hero."

"Hero records..." Tommy mused. "As the one who named this little endeavor in the first place, I approve, and I put it up for a vote. All in favor say 'Aye.' All not in favor should be informed that the door is that way, and the bus is currently doing 65. All in favor?"

There was a chorus of "Aye"s and laughter and then Thea groaned.

"Does this mean we're going to have to call everyone again?"


	15. Chapter 15

HELLO EVERYONE! We are back in Boston for the last chapter (sorry it took so long), and since the flashbacks are all caught up to the main story, there won't be one for this chapter. That means it will be some stuff that happened on the remaining stops on the tour, and we'll see how Hero Records is shaping up. Thank you again to anyone and everyone who has been reading this, especially if you favorited/followed/reviewed. I have had so much fun writing this, and I'm glad there were people who chose to come along for the ride. Enjoy those Wednesday nights folks!

As it turned out, Laurel and Ted didn't want to wait until the end of the tour to go ring shopping. Instead, they had begged off bonding time in Chicago and gone wandering through the streets of the city looking for the perfect diamond. The band now sat in its proper place on Laurel's left hand. It was a beautiful cushion cut gem with smaller stones surrounding it, and she showed it off to anyone in the vicinity. Or, she had before Nyssa put a stop to it when she surprised them by popping up backstage before their last show.

"Laurel," Nyssa had said firmly, cutting off on of the woman's rambles, "I know you have a perfect fiancee and a perfect ring and you're going to have a perfect wedding, but if you don't shut up, I'm going to turn down my bridesmaid slot."

Sara, tucked under her girlfriend's arm, had giggled as Laurel's eyes went wide.

"You can't do that! I need four to go with Ted's four groomsman! If you drop out, I'll have to ask cousin Isabel!" Laurel smirked a little as Sara stopped laughing and turned to Nyssa.

"Please don't drop out babe! I cannot spend that much time with Isabel. She's a demon!"

"Fine, fine," Nyssa replied with a sigh. "But seriously Laurel, tone it down a little would you?"

Laurel had obeyed, but had instead developed a habit of toying with the piece of jewelry whenever she needed comfort. She was doing it now, in fact, the diamond going around and around and around as its wearer took a deep breath and started speaking from her place at the head of the table.

"Ok guys, lets go over today one more time!"

For the first months of operation, Hero Records had been mostly getting set up, with the Pretty Rich recording some material. Today, however, they were bringing in four acts to talk to about giving deals. This morning meeting had everyone gathered in the conference room to go over the agenda.

"Oliver and Tommy, you start." Laurel commanded, and Tommy spoke up.

"Ok, so Cindy Alcorn is our first potential. Q sent her to us, said she sings at a lot of clubs back home. She's a little Evanescence-y, she uses Sin as her stage name."

"She doesn't have a band, so we'll put her with some of the studio musicians the the Steeles introduced us to." Oliver said, finishing his boyfriend's explanation.

Laurel nodded her approval. "Roy, what's up with you?"

"Okay, so back when I was on the streets, I ran into this guy Ray Palmer once or twice. Lately, I've been seeing him in coffee shops and stuff. He doesn't have a band, but he does play guitar, and goes by Ray Atom now. He does a lot of ballads." Roy finished with an eyeroll.

They all laughed a little, and Thea squeezed his hand. Everyone new Roy's taste in music ran about as far from ballads as one could get. If he was recommending this Ray guy, it was probably a good idea to invite him in. Sara was the one to speak up next.

"Ok, so just to add a little more variety, the third act stopping by go by the League. They're a duet, Maseo Yamashiro and Tatsu Keitomaro. They're old school friends of Nyssa's. Maseo plays guitar and sings, Tatsu is a drummer, and most of their stuff involves combining traditional Japanese music with more modern genres."

"The variety is excellent." Laurel said when her sister had finished speaking. "We don't want to target too narrow a market, and end up being gobbled up by someone like Star Labs." she continued. "Last but not least, Felicity, you said you invited some people in for the last slot?"

Felicity cleared her throat. "Yes, I did. When we decided we were doing this, I started diving deeper into the local music scene. Ted helped with that," she said, flashing a grin in his direction. "I kept running into this pop-punk group that I really like. It's a three piece act. Caitlin Snow plays bass, Cisco Ramone is their drummer, and Barry Allen sings and plays guitar."

"What do they call themselves?" Ted asked.

"The Flash."


End file.
